Designs for prefabricated bows are known in the art. Such bows 10 may be constructed of a ribbon or ribbon like material with a bow member 11 having a plurality of loops 12 mutually secured to each other (such as by staple 13) at a common location to form a base portion 14, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The number, size and relative locations of the loops 12 enable a variety of desired bow forms to be achieved.
In some instances, such preformed bows are provided with a stiffening sheet 15, constructed of a suitable material such as paperboard, commonly attached (conveniently such as by staple 13 with the loops 12) to the base portion 14 of the bow, as shown specifically in FIG. 2. A length of pressure sensitive adhesive tape (not shown) may be used to secure the preformed bow to the package. However, this approach is not entirely convenient in that it requires separate provision of a length of the pressure sensitive adhesive tape to secure the bow to an object. Also, the tape may be visible and detract from the visual appearance of the package.
Alternatively, the stiffening sheet 15 may conveniently be provided with a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive 16 on the surface 17 of the stiffening sheet directed away from the bow base portion 14. The layer of pressure sensitive adhesive is typically covered by a removable liner 18 prior to use. The exposed pressure sensitive adhesive may be employed to adhere the bow to an object, such as a gift package.
In the past, such pressure sensitive adhesives have been "permanent" adhesives in that after application to a surface and a relatively short "dwell time", the bow can not be removed from the package without causing damage to the bow or the package or both. This prevents repositioning or reuse of the bow.
Frequently, it is also desirable to secure a ribbon band to the gift package in a convenient arrangement in conjunction with a preformed bow. configuring a gift package in this manner requires that a preformed bow be provided and then attached to the package, and then that a length of the ribbon be provided and separately attached to the gift package. Similarly, if separate lengths of pressure sensitive adhesive tape are required to be provided to secure the ribbon to the gift package, convenience is reduced and the ribbon may not be conveniently repositioned with respect to the package or to the bow.
It has also been known to attach (such as by staple 13 with loops 12 and stiffening sheet 15) a length of ribbon 19 at an intermediate point to an alternate form 10' of a preformed bow, to facilitate in the attachment of the bow to an object, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As previously described, this requires the provision of separate means, such as a length of pressure sensitive adhesive tape (not shown), to secure the bow 10' and ribbon 19 combination to an object.
Designs for self-forming bows, referred to as "Pull Bows" are known in the art as an alternative to the preformed bows shown in FIGS. 1-4. Such self forming bows are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,637,455; 3,954,212; 4,329,382; 4,476,168 and 4,515,837, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As shown in FIGS. 5-7, such pull bows 20 have included two ribbon bands 21a, 21b. A pair of drawstrings 22a, 22b are interposed between the ribbon bands.
First ends of the drawstrings 21a, 21b are bonded to each other and to the ribbon bands 22a, 22b adjacent one end of the ribbon bands (as at 24). The ribbon bands are also bonded to each other at spaced paired locations 26 on either side of the drawstrings. Pairs of the bonded locations 26 on the ribbon bands on opposing sides of the drawstrings form "fold lines" 30 that act to form loops (as at 32 in FIGS. 6 and 7) in the ribbon bands when the second, opposite ends 34, 36 of the drawstrings 21a, 21b are grasped and pulled in direction 38 while the ribbon bands are held stationary or pushed in the opposite direction 40 (as shown in FIG. 6). When the fold lines and resulting loops are gathered adjacent first ends (at 24 and as shown in FIG. 7), a bow member 42 is fully formed and the drawstrings extend therefrom.
Referring now again to FIG. 5, if a fold line 30 is transverse to the length of the ribbon bands, (as at 30a) the resulting loops 32 are aligned with each other and the ribbon bands, resulting in bows available from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. of St. Paul, Minn. under the trademark "Tiara". In U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,168, issued to Aoyama, fold lines 30 (as at 30b in FIG. 5) are disclosed that were inclined with respect to the ribbon bands. This resulted in bows being formed having loops that may be inclined with respect to the drawstrings. Bows having inclined fold lines are available from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. of St. Paul, Minn. under the trademarks "Pom" and "Regal". Of course, other alternate bow designs may be devised and are known in the art by arranging the number, angle and position of the various fold lines.
FIG. 7A illustrates one apparatus and method for constructing a conventional prefabricated self-forming pull bow as shown in FIGS. 5-7. Drawstring webs 21a and 21b are drawn from supply rolls 50 and 52, respectively generally in direction 54 and pass through aligned nip rollers 56 and 58. Ribbon bands 22a and 22b are drawn from supply rolls 60 and 62, respectively and pass though aligned nip rollers 64 and 66, with the drawstrings interposed between the ribbon bands. At least three bonding members 70 are provided (only one of which is shown in FIG. 7A). One is generally aligned with each longitudinal edge of the ribbon bands, and another is transversely positioned at a medial location.
The bonding members 70 are periodically actuated in a manner known in the art to form bonded locations 26 along the longitudinal edges of the ribbon bands on other side of the drawstrings, or at a medial location 24 to establish the first ends of the bows, as shown in FIG. 5, supported by platform 72. The location and spacing of the bonded location may be predetermined to construct a bow having the desired size and formation, as previously discussed.
Severing means are provided in the form of knife 74 to sever each prefabricated self-forming pull bow from the bonded continuous web. Typically, the knife forms a chevron shaped division (as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7) between the respective first ends and the second ends of sequential bows. Each severed bow 20 is sequentially received within receptacle 76.
Once a bow is formed, as shown in FIG. 7, the extended drawstrings 21a, 21b may be tied together about an object (not shown), such as a package, to secure the bow in place. However, this approach may not adequately secure the bow to the object. Furthermore, the bow may not be conveniently removable without cutting the drawstrings, hampering reuse. Alternatively, segments of pressure sensitive adhesive tape (not shown) may be applied to the drawstrings to secure the drawstrings, and thus the bow, to the object. Using segments of pressure sensitive adhesive tape while holding the bow in position on an object is not desirable, as previously discussed.
It is also known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,826,712, and 2,278,673, to provide a decorative ribbon having a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive on a surface thereof. The '673 patent discloses that a pressure sensitive adhesive may be utilized that is removable from a surface, and the '712 patent discloses that a pressure sensitive adhesive may be utilized that is repositionable with respect to the surface. However, neither of these patents suggests the use of such pressure sensitive adhesive coated ribbons in conjunction with either a preformed or a self forming bow.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/031,560, filed Mar. 15, 1993 and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Forming Prefabricated Self-forming Self-adhering Pull Bow and Pull Bow Formed Thereby" issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,523, discloses a pull bow that is similar in structure and operation as the conventional pull bows described herein and as shown in FIGS. 5-7. However, in the pull bow disclosed in the Ser. No. 08/031,560 application, at least a portion of the facing major surfaces of the drawstrings have a layer of a pressure sensitive adhesive coated thereon so as to adhere the drawstrings to each other, wherein the drawstrings may be separated after the bow is formed and the exposed layers of pressure sensitive adhesive applied to an object to adhere the bow to the object. Preferably, the pressure sensitive adhesive is a repositionable pressure sensitive adhesive, so that once formed, the pull bow may be applied to an object, such as a package, and then removed and reapplied without damage to the package or the bow. Means may be provided to facilitate the separation of the reciprocally adhered drawstrings for application of the pressure sensitive adhesive coated surfaces to an object.
However, none of the above bows, whether preformed or self-forming, adequately addresses the problem of quickly and conveniently securing a preformed bow to a package.